Hearts Were As One
by Ginger Sheikah
Summary: "What memories of her did I carry? I closed my eyes and thought of the very first time I had lain eyes on that little imp." A short oneshot detailing the first time that Zelda meets the infamously sassy Midna. -Set during TP-


This oneshot is so special to me because my best friend and I are totally Midna and Zelda-she's Midna and I am Zelda and we used to say that we were "two sides of the same coin." This was one of my earliest fanfics, dating back to three years ago. It's short, but sweet and I hope that you enjoy. Happy reading :)

* * *

"_**Say nothing, Midna…Your heart and mine were as one…however briefly…such suffering you have endured…"**_

I had spoken those words to her moments after I had been restored from Ganondorf's possession over my body.

Truly, we had been as one. Long ago, when she lay dying on the floor of my room, it dawned on me that we were not so different from each other. She was a Princess, as I was. Our kingdoms had been ravaged by the very same evil forces. We both did everything in our power to restore life and freedom to our people. Midna and I even relied on the same quiet Hero. So, to save the life of my Twilight counterpart, I had given her my own life force.

All her burdens had become my own. I shared in her feelings and fears. We both craved for the shadow cast by Ganondorf to be lifted from the light world. My own heart even rejoiced when Zant was vanquished from the Twilight Realm.

And now, in the dying sunlight that was glowing throughout the Mirror Chamber, only seconds after Midna left this world for good, I understood her even more.

In the very beginning of this lengthy journey, I had made a choice, one that would seem foolhardy and cowardly to most people. Midna certainly had that opinion…

I had surrendered to Zant. However, I knew that I made the right decision to protect my country. A reassuring feeling had filled my heart as soon as I let my sword fall from my fingers. I was going through with my choice, no matter what.

Hadn't Midna just done the same? To Link, her dear friend that she had just left behind in the light world, her choice to destroy the only pathway between the realms was unnecessary. But I understood her motive; she was doing what she could to protect her world, and mine.

Link stood next to the shattered mirror frame, with his arm still stretched out to stop her. The look of hurt on his face betrayed how deep the Hero's feelings ran for the imp girl who had been his companion for so long.

No, he would never see this in the same light as I did.

The revelation of how close the two had become almost surprised me. I never would have expected for Midna, who once viciously despised the light world and all it's inhabitants, to have such a drastic change of heart.

I suppose that after all the selfless acts that she had seen the people from the light world carry out on her behalf, she discovered that we weren't so bad after all.

My feet found their way down the rough stone steps and onto the sandy ground of the chamber. Link was facing the solid black stone, still standing on the perch where the neon pathway to the entrance to the Twilight Realm was. Out of respect, I kept silent. He was probably reflecting on every moment, every touch, and every victory he had shared with Midna.

What memories of her did I carry? I closed my eyes and thought of the very first time I had lain eyes on that little imp.

* * *

The perpetually dying sun gave little warmth to the country, so the Twilight was chilly. I kept a fire burning in the fireplace, but it hardly did anything to keep my small, tower room warm. The only relief from the unnatural cold was to hide beneath my thick, black cloak.

The cloudy blanket of twilight would cycle through different colors. Sometimes it would be a dark, dusky orange and then it would change to a deep, inky purple. Maybe that was the twilight's own version of night and day? The sky had already cycled through these colors a few times, so I figured that my stay so far had been a short one.

Most of my time was spent pacing back and forth, or staring out the wrought-iron windows. I was getting anxious while waiting for something to happen. Had my intuition been wrong? Would help even come?

I looked out the window and saw that the sky was purple now. My body felt tired and I staggered over to where my bed was. At least Zant had the decency to put me in a room and not a dungeon. I fell unceremoniously onto the mattress and closed my weary eyes.

Doubt was creeping into my mind, even as I began to fall asleep. My last troubled thought before I drifted off was me asking myself if I had made a grave mistake.

It may have been minutes or hours later that I woke with an eerie feeling. The tiny hairs on my neck were standing up and I had that distinct feeling of being watched. Somebody was in my room.

"Wakey wakey, Princess!" chimed a girlish voice. My eyes flew open and I hastily sat up in bed.

"Who's there?" I called out to my dimly lit chamber.

My only reply was a mischievous giggle that echoed over the stone tiles. I sat still, trying to decipher whether the voice I heard was friendly or not.

"Get up, lazy bones! You can't just lie there and sleep while a crazy person is running your country and your people are little more than suffering spirits! Or maybe you can. Seems fitting for a fool like you." Whoever this voice belonged to, they knew what had happened to me, and they didn't seem shy about their opinion either.

Suddenly, one of the shadows that was cast over my floor moved and hovered in the air. Then it morphed into a girl, of sorts.

She was small, maybe about four feet high if she had been standing instead of floating in the air. Her legs were daintily crossed and her face was resting in the palm of her tiny hand. The girl's skin was white and black, and decorated with bright blue markings. One bright red and orange eye was visible; the other was covered by an unusual looking stone hat that was perched over her neon orange hair. Her ears were pointed like mine, but they stuck out instead of lying against her head. The roguish expression on her face made me think that she wasn't friendly at all.

She was obviously a Twili, but she seemed so different from Zant. Something didn't seem right about her…

"What…are you?" I asked with trepidation in my voice.

The girl only grinned at me with a smile that revealed her pointy teeth. "Wouldn't you like to know, oh great Princess?"

Already her attitude was starting to wear on my frayed nerves. "I would, but I see that I'm not going to get an answer." I turned from the girl and walked to my window.

She only followed me and floated behind my right shoulder. "It's okay, your highness, just stand at the window and do nothing. We wouldn't want you to strain yourself by actually doing something to save your world," she quipped with a sarcastic tone.

I looked over my shoulder at her and gave her a stern look. "If you're one of Zant's followers here to mock me, then you can leave."

The girl backed away from my shoulder and her demeanor instantly changed. Her hands balled up into little angry fists and her mouth clenched into a grimace. She took a stance in mid-air that looked like she was about to charge at me.

"Don't put me on the same side as that idiot!" she heatedly declared through her teeth. "I'm not here for him, or for anybody but myself for that matter!"

I was a little taken aback by her severe reaction to my statement. "Surely," I thought to myself. "She is on his side. She's from the Twilight Realm as well, isn't she?" My confusion must have shown on my face, because she spoke up again.

"Not a single Twili is happy about Zant being in power…you don't know what he's done to my world…" She hung her head and let her words trail off into silence.

I felt a twinge of pity for her. "I can understand. Look what he's done to my world."

She raised her head to look my way. Her one eye glared at me and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Don't you mean what you LET him do?"

I frowned and tried my best to not say something hideously mean to her. "What are you?" I forcefully asked once more.

She made a "humph" noise and turned her back to me. "Maybe you should start asking 'who' instead of 'what!'"

"Alright then, friend, and I only say that because you are not on Zant's side and therefore on mine. Who are you?"

The imp turned around and was back in her cross-legged seat in the air.

"My name is Midna, and we are not friends. Just because I'm not with Zant doesn't mean I'm with you. I only want to see him taken down so that I can restore MY world." Midna crossed her arms as if to challenge me to disagree with her.

I shook my head. No matter what she said, I would consider her my ally. As long as she wanted the same thing I did, we were friends.

"Alright then, Midna. How do you plan on 'taking him down?' Is there something that you had in mind?" I asked, hoping that maybe my help had come at last.

Midna tapped her black and blue fingers against her white cheeks. "Why yes, I do indeed have a plan. Since I didn't stupidly surrender and get myself locked in a tower, I can actually do something with my life."

"Midna, I did what I thought was best," I said to defend myself. This girl was doing a wonderful job of making me feel small and simple.

"Well, Zelda, you thought wrong. And now it's up to me to find the Hero."

My heart quickened. A Hero? Tales from ages past spoke of a Hero, a young boy who wielded the Triforce of Courage. His fate was always intertwined with the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom, which was now me. I had hoped that the new bearer of Courage would come to my aid. Did Midna and I have faith in the same person?

"A Hero?" I asked. "You need somebody from the light world to help you defeat Zant?"

Midna yawned and stretched her long arms over her enormous helmet. "Yes, unfortunately, I need a stupid, clumsy light-dweller to help me. According to my tribe's legends, a light-dweller who could take the form of a beast would help us in our time of need. I thought that I would come see you to ask where I might find a man who was suitable enough for this task, but I get the feeling you were waiting on a Hero too. So, never mind!"

Midna turned around one more time and began to float to the doorway. I gasped and followed her.

"Midna! Wait!" I called out, half expecting her to not even acknowledge me. To my relief, she stopped.

"What is it, Zelda? I haven't got all day!" She turned around and made a great show of being bored by pensively inspecting her fingers.

"I think I might be able to help." Midna scoffed at my words, but I ignored her and continued on.

"Look for a young man who has three triangles on the back of his left hand. To my people, that mark is known as the Triforce. Only a few know that whoever has that mark holds great power. There are three different Triforce pieces: Courage, Wisdom, and Power. The One we need holds courage. I hold wisdom."

She laughed at me after I said this. "YOU have the power of wisdom? You could have fooled me!"

I held up my left hand to show her my Triforce, but she hardly glanced at me. "Do you understand, Midna? The boy who has the same mark as I do is the one we need."

She looked skeptical, but nodded her head. "Okay, Princess of Wisdom. I need a beast, not a boy, but, whatever you say." Midna looked me over and asked if I had anything else to say.

"Yes, I have a small favor to ask. When you do find him, can you bring him here so that I can meet him?

Midna rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, I'll bring him to you. Now please let me leave so I can actually FIND this person."

I smiled, a true smile that hadn't been on my lips since before Zant's invasion. "Thank you Midna."

"Mhmm. You won't be able to thank me enough when this is all said and done, that is if your world actually recovers!"

Instead of snapping back, I showed her kindness, mostly to annoy her, but I truly did feel grateful and full of hope.

"No, really. Thank you Midna. Your actions will not only save your world, but mine as well. I am forever grateful to you." At this I bowed my head respectfully.

"NO ZELDA! Don't thank me for that! Your world means nothing to me! I'm NOT doing this for YOU!" She had her fists up and her eyes glaring again. It felt a little satisfying to see her so irked after all the insults she threw at me, but I did have truth to my words. If she found the hero, it would change everything.

"Midna, good luck on your quest," were the last words I spoke to her before she disappeared into a shadow.

"See you later," was all I heard her say before silence overtook the room again.

After our meeting, rumors started flying around, saying that Zant was on a mad hunt for Midna. Back then, I had no idea of the secret identity she was hiding, so I could not understand what Zant would want with a little imp girl.

I didn't see her again until she came sneaking in my room, this time riding a shaggy wolf with a shackle around his paw. I was skeptical of her bringing him in as the Hero, until I saw the Triforce gleaming through his fur.

That time, I was more patient and less irritated with her. However, she was still the same Midna I had met before.

Then, on our third meeting, I understood who she was as soon as she spoke of the Mirror of Twilight. Somehow, it didn't really surprise me. That's why the Shadow Beasts were looking for her. Midna was their overthrown Princess.

I realized that she was under a curse, for the true ruler of that realm would not be an imp. As I listened to Midna begging me to help, I knew her need to be on the earth was greater than my own. I gave all I had for her, and she did not let it go to waste.

Even though she was as sassy as ever, Midna's heart had changed and she threw her whole being into helping Link save both worlds.

Love and kindness from the light-dwellers she so despised had been the catalyst for that change.

* * *

I opened my eyes as I felt Link's hand rest on my arm. His sapphire eyes were watery and his mouth was turned down at the corners.

"Can we leave?" the Hero quietly asked. I gave him a somber smile.

"Yes, let's leave." His face looked relieved and he took off to the exit with slowness to his steps.

I lingered for a moment and took one last look at the stone where the portal to the Twilight Realm had once been.

As much as I understood Midna's actions, I too felt a deep chasm of loss. We could have had a friendship, if it were given the chance to flourish.

But it was not meant to be. Duty was chosen over pleasure.

A warm breeze softly blew the sand into little dust flurries and I could almost hear her laugh on the wind. It still felt strange to have her gone. The light world sadly seemed a little less cheerful.

I sighed and spoke to her, to her memory, one last time.

"Thank you Midna. Your actions have not only saved your world, but ours as well. I am forever grateful to you…"


End file.
